[marginalium]
Gnosticism in Blood Meridian
26 Jan 2026
Gnosticism in Blood Meridian.
Fantastic old essay on the Gnostic themes in McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. I am a little confused by his account of the Fates—I think he’s confusing them with the Furies. But the idea of the Judge representing the trappedness we experience as humans made me think of a quote from a completely different book:
There are superficial facts in life. And then there are truths. You’ll know when you’ve found a truth. It sticks to your heart.
Anyway. If you are new to McCarthy or Gnosticism, this might be enough to get you to check out both. It might explain why Blood Meridian’s gruesomeness doesn’t seem to really stop the book from being beautiful in a bleak way.
Anthologies: Gratification, On Being Fruitful, Betterment, Spiritual Architecture, Thought Architecture, Economy of Small Pleasures, On (Un)happiness, On the Nature of Things